Chapter 53 :Four vs One
Hello everyone ! As usual, I wish you all a good day. This time, I'll be talking about the Tales of Arcadia by Guillermo Del Toro. It's not a book. Or at least, if it is, I haven't read them. They're mini-series. 3 to be specific. Trollhunter, 3below and Wizards. Plus a movie. Most of the intrigue occur in the town of Arcadia. It's a pretty neat story, if you've kept your inner child. I won't summarize it, you can simply go on Netflix to watch it !
Now, you wish to go visit my Patréon *wave my hand all jedi-like*. Search for Cathbel on their website. You'll find other stories, advanced chapters and, of course, yours truly ! In addition, you can, if you want, leave behind some stones, a comment or a review. I read it all, even if I don't always reply.
Thank you for your time and enjoy !
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I say let's deal with this, but I actually am not sure how to… Despite the fact that we're four and Norman is alone, he is still a freak. His mobility tanked a bit because of how big he is now, and his glider can't support him well. This means he can't avoid the attacks as easily as he did before. He doesn't seem to bother him however…
Rather, it only seems to make him more angry and difficult to deal with. I wonder if perhaps, his version of the Oz serum is similar to the Hulk's, who grows stronger along with his anger. I sure hope it isn't… No, let's consider it's not or my morale and confidence will take a nosedive.
« What the hell is this thing ! » Spider-Man yells in surprise. He doesn't wait long to return to his quip, though… Slinging away to dodge a fireball, he swings right back with his fist cocked behind him. « Hey, green and ugly ! Taste my five fingers sandwich ! »
A loud, lone smack resounds. A moment later, Squirrel-Girl joins him saying :
« That's just a slice, though… » Before whipping her tail around the hulking figure's leg and pulling to trip him. It works… Somewhat. Unbalanced, she capitalizes by clawing at his face. Norman retaliates almost immediately after, catching one of her hand and throwing it, along with her toward Web-head.
I glance at Quake, who remains mostly still on the ground, waiting for an opportunity to strike at our foe. She's unable to use her powers for the same reason she used short-range bursts earlier : it'd cause too much structural damage. What's the point of defeating our enemy, only to have the gym falling down on our heads ? Besides, there'll be public backlash if we cause too much property damage.
I guess that's my cue to act…
While Spider-Man catches Squirrel Girl in his arms and start weaving up the rafters to avoid another volley of flaming projectiles, I spit a glob of ink and direct it toward the glider.
Being more stationary and much less swift, my ink finds its purchase on the cold metallic exterior of the vehicle and I start to will to take another form. Once it's done, the engines sputter to a halt causing the glider to tumble down.
Green Goblin, surprised, still manages to jump from it before it crashes and roll on the gym's ground, stopping not far from Cory. She reacts instantly, blasting him with her vibrational powers… Only for them to do almost nothing. Norman is barely pushed back and with a smirk backhand my friend and sends her flying.
« Oh no, you don't ! » I exclaim as I see approaching her.
With an empowering tattoo, I use two of my tentacles to bind his arms and pin him in place. Meanwhile and before he had the chance to struggle, our other two friends fall like rain from the sky on top of him. Spider-Man lands and sticks to him as he delivers a series of punches to his head while Squirrel Girl rolls a little behind him before trying to tackle him. Seeing this, I release him before I'm dragged into his fall… But he doesn't fall.
« This fucker's tough… » I mutter.
Cory gets up from the bleachers, wiping the blood trickling down from a cut on her forehead with her brows furrowed in fury. With a clear and terse voice, she orders :
« Get away ! » Before blasting the Green Goblin much more forcefully.
I wince, almost feeling pity for the man. No doubt, he'll feel this one in the morning. I even wonder if she hasn't caused some internal damage… At least, a few of his bones might have broken.
Once again, the Green Goblin stands up and I grow a tad annoyed. What does it take for the bastard to finally stand down or get knocked out ? At some point, they'll start to inflict lethal damage if they continue to ramp up the strength of their attack. I'm relieved however, when I noticed the grimace on his big ugly face, as well as the fact that he's noticeably slower. He was slower than his human appearance on the glider, but I assume had he had time to react, he would have been much quicker on the ground. The Oz formula is an attempt at recreating Captain America, after all… Let's just hope it doesn't give him a healing factor as overpowered as Wolverine.
Shaking his head in an attempt to clear the metaphorical cobwebs, Green Goblin looks enraged and lights up both of his hands in flame. They look much stronger than earlier, like they have more oxygen to burn or something…
Before he can throw them at Quake however, a legion of furry rodents suddenly invade the gymnasium and swarm Norman Osborn. He struggles for a while, batting away at them, grabbing some and throwing them afar, even tries to burn a few of them up. But they're too quick, and I'm guessing, empowered by whatever Doreen's power is.
She calls them friends, but the way they act when called on… It's more like she's their Queen with a capital Q. A queen with the power to buff her subjects somehow. Because no matter how I think about it, I don't see how, a swarm of Squirrels can overpower someone like Doctor Doom. Or, in this case, a jacked up Green Goblin.
« And~… He's going down ! Finally… » I comment in a low voice.
Going back to the subject of Doreen's power. I know that, a swarm of rodents is a terrifying possibility. Like a cloud of locusts flying over towns, cultures etc… It'll eat absolutely everything as they pass through. At least, that's how it's depicted as a plague, and in several fictions. I don't actually know if it is accurate.
Another aspect is… Where the hell are there so many squirrels in New York city ? Sure, there's Central Park, but I doubt there's enough there to cover a freaking Hulk-sized person from head to toe ! Several times over, at that ! She has to be duplicating them… or drawing them from farther than the perimeter of the city !
I shake my head as I see the twitching - human - form of Norman Osborn, lying almost naked on the ground. And that's when S.H.I.E.L.D. finally shows up ! Why's the cavalry always so darn late !